Monday, August 29, 2016

Parenting in the Digital Age

Thankfully my boys are at good ages to entertain themselves with computers. During this session there was no one that could watch the kids.

If it were up to the boys they would have played in the lobby the whole time. They had rockets on a screen that put their face in them, and followed them where ever they went.

While the kids did what they did, we got started talking about Parenting in the Digital Age.

First Common Sense Media talked about how they are active in creating laws. Kids can swipe their online presence to start over when they are 18.

This is when I felt a little guilty about blogging about my kids so much. I think of my blog as a recording device. A modern baby book that worked its way into when they are kids. Lucky for me they are good kids. When I blog it's not like I'm throwing them under the bus each post. We all act up, and go through phases in life at times.

A mom that was there doesn't put her kids on facebook at all. I felt like I was in the wrong. So my kids have an online presence. If I had to start my blog over again - knowing what I know now I'd give my boys nicknames that they have in real life. Isaak is Zeek and Mica is Moose at home, and Smarty at Grandma and Grandpa's. It's a little late for that now I feel.

My boys are leaders in their classes, they get good grades in school, and they crack me up on a daily basis. I don't think I've messed them up that much.

I respect those that choose to give their kids online privacy. It would be super hard for me to not share my kids with the world. They are a part of my life.

We had to make a word web of our kids that included our online concerns for them, and something positive they'll get from being online.
Here's Travis':

Here's mine:

Travis' was more artsy, but mine had more words on it.

I have different concerns from one child to the next. Mica doesn't know his online limits. Isaak gets his feelings hurt easily, which could result in being bullied online.

Common Sense Media works with teachers, parents and educators. In fact they work with my boy's school district. They are not just in Nebraska. Check to see if they work with schools around where you live. Please check out their website: commonsensemedia.org

Things Parents Should Talk to Their Kids About:

Having positive online decisions

No cyber bulling

Data privacy

They shouldn't violate copyright laws

Common Sense Media Has so Much on Their Site! Here are Links to a Few Things We Went Over:

You can see movie reviews here. I love that they have ages for movies. No longer will my husband try to get them to see something they aren't ready for. Can I say Sixth Sense? I had to say "NO!" to that one. They also have online discussions topics about movies. Families can have dialog about what they watched. How great is that?!

There digital glossary is here. It is a glossary of terms that older students use. So many of them I have heard, but didn't know what they meant. This covers their lingo. This I will use for my own students.

They have media agreements here. It's a downloadable PDF that you can print out for your kid to fill out. I have to say that I don't know how much I'll use of that. We just discuss when they've had too much media. They get off at that time.

There's a lot more on their site, so check it out!

We Talked About Apps:

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Musical.ly

Vine

Kik Messenger

Snapchat

Tumblr

Some I knew a lot about, while others were new to me. While I've heard of Snapchat, I've never used it. Vine, Musical.ly, Kik Messenger I've never heard of. I brought up others like Pinterest, Google+ and LinkedIn. I guess LinkedIn is supposed to have a come back. I thought it was dying.

What app do you use the most? I'd have to say that I use Facebook the most. I control the school's Facebook page, as well as my blog one, and my personal one. Pinterest is helpful. Not just for recipes, but for holding onto things I want to talk about in class. I like Instagram, but am still newish to it. Twitter just seems like a spot to get the word out about things.

5 comments:

It's awesome that you are taking the time to think about your children's online presence and what that can mean for them in the future. And even beyond that, what the time they spend online can do to their mental health and how, for instance, if they provide too much information, can get them into real trouble. I grew up in the 90s before internet predators and online bullying was actually a thing. While I miss that for future generations (there's nothing better than making awesome online friends that stay with you for years!), I definitely think it is a good idea to think about and talk about how online presence can influence a child's future. Is there anything you learned at this conference that will change how you blog going forth? Or anything that you will think twice about allowing your kids to do online that maybe you would have allowed them to do before?

Allison is a little full of herself and likes for me to share her life online. She'll go to my search bar and type her name in and reread all the posts about herself, critiquing each one. Mariah doesn't care one way or another if we share about her online, but she doesn't get so much attention on the blog since she has so many extracurricular activities, she just isn't home so much anymore to participate in a lot of the things we do. If either ever expressed that they didn't want mentioned on the blog, I wouldn't hesitate to shift the direction of the blog and no longer use their names or photos.

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